Palestinians fire on Jerusalem neighborhood in daylight
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, November 14, 2000
JERUSALEM — For the first time, Palestinians have attacked Jerusalem
in broad daylight.
Palestinians attacked the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo with
automatic fire. Israeli tanks responded with anti-tank missiles and
automatic fire toward nearby Bet Jallah.
"We consider ourselves now at war with Israel," Palestinian legislator
and Fatah official Hatem Abdul Khader said. "We are free of all the
restrictions and obligations that were imposed by the Oslo process. The
Fatah movement, as of now, is no longer part of the peace process. The next
step, the next priority, and the next strategy is to pursue, expand, and
escalate this uprising."
At one point, an Israeli bus was caught in a crossfire at a nearby
tunnel. Nobody was injured.
Several hours later, the roads to Jerusalem from its southern suburbs
were open. By nightfall, Palestinian gunmen opened fire in Hebron, Jericho,
Nablus, Ramallah and Gaza. At one point, a convoy that contained UN human
rights chief Mary Robinson came under gunfire in Hebron.
"The nature of the Palestinian fighting has changed from daytime
confrontations to night fighting and a focus on terrorist attacks," Col. Gal
Hirsch, a West Bank military commander, said. "The Palestinian Authority is
not naive. It has freed experts in terrorism."
On late Sunday, an Israeli tank fired a shell at the Palestinian
Authority-owned casino outside Jericho in response to shooting attacks from
the site. The casino was said to have been damaged and PA officials said the
attack was unprecedented.
In the Egyptian-controlled Sinai, olive harvesters were injured by
gunfire near the border with Israel during a firefight with Palestinians.
Palestinians vowed to maintain the revolt against Israel and clashes
resumed on Monday. They said they would increasingly use firearms.
"Our people are now more than ever determined to pursue their struggle
in the Al Aksa uprising," Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said
at the Islamic summit in Doha. "It is an uprising for liberty and
independence to remove the clutches of occupation. The Palestinian people
know the importance of the sacrifices they have to make to realize this
objective."
Many speakers at the Doha summit called for jihad, or holy war, against
Israel. At one point, the contingent of Qatar, which had resisted cutting
ties with Israel, was jostled at the conference.
At the same time, PA leaders appealed to Israel to accept the son of PA
security chief Mohammed Dahlan for treatment in an Israeli hospital. The
sources said Dahlan's son was injured during clashes with Israeli troops in
the Gaza Strip.